A writ petition has been filed with the High Court (HC) seeking directives to cancel all 'one-sided' power deals signed with the Indian Adani Group.
Challenging the legality of the Power Purchase Agreement signed on November 5, 2017, between the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and Adani (Jharkhand) Limited, Supreme Court lawyer Md Abdul Qaium filed the petition on Wednesday as a public interest litigation.
In the petition, the lawyer prayed to the High Court to issue a rule upon the concerned government bodies to explain why the execution of the Power Purchase Agreement between the Bangladesh Power Development Board and Adani (Jharkhand) Limited on November 5, 2017, should not be declared illegal.
The lawyer mentioned the terms of the agreement as fraudulent unconscionable unfair unequal and against the public interest of Bangladesh.
In the rule, the petitioner also wanted to know as to why a direction shall not be given upon the respondents for terminating the said Power Purchase Agreement, if Adani (Jharkhand) Ltd does not agree to the fair equal terms that upholds national interest of Bangladesh.
In the petition the lawyer sought direction from the High Court to form a high powered enquiry committee comprising of internationally acclaimed energy and legal experts giving detailed reports on the agreement and also for identifying the persons involved in the execution of the agreement against the national interest of the country.
Energy Secretary, Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) Chairman, Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) Managing Director, Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) Chairman, Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) Secretary and Adani Power (Jharkhand) Limited have been made respondents in the petition.
Earlier on November 6 this year the lawyer sent a legal notice upon the respondents to take necessary steps within three days to invite Adani (Jharkhand) Ltd to renegotiate the power purchase agreement with Bangladesh. As the respondents didn't take any initiative regarding the issue, he filed the writ petition.
The lawyer told the FE that the High Court bench headed by Justice Farah Mahbub may hold hearing on the petition on next Sunday.
Bangladesh Power Development Board, a state owned corporation, executed Power Purchase Agreement with Adani (Jharkhand) Limited relating to the 1496 megawatt coal-fired power generation facility at the district of Godda in India in November, 2017.
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